The internal combustion engine is employed in uncounted applications throughout the world. The operation of the engine relies upon the combustion of fossil fuels. The existing supply of fossil fuels is, of course, limited. The recent price increases in these fuels represent, in part, the increased cost of recovery of the world's depleted reservoirs. Therefore, any apparatus or method for increasing the efficiency of an internal combustion engine is highly desirable.
Many systems have been developed to employ water or steam injection within the combustion chambers of internal combustion engines. Several systems are used to cool the cylinders by lowering combustion temperature or may be employed to reduce harmful exhaust emissions. Other systems have provided water to the combustion chamber for generation to steam to increase the pressure in the chamber. These systems all have the potential for increased thermal efficiency by employing waste heat generated by the fossil fuel combustion to power the engine.
However, none of these systems have achieved wide use. In particular, very few truck and automotive internal combustion engines employ such a system. Therefore there is a need to develop an effective inexpensive system for recycling waste heat which may be adapted for use on existent internal combustion engines.